The Law of International Watercourses

The Law of International Watercourses examines the rules of international law governing the navigational and non-navigational uses of international watercourses. The continued growth of the world's population places increasing demands on Earth's finite supplies of fresh water. Because two or more States share many of the world's most important drainage basins - including the Danube, the Ganges, the Indus, the Jordan, the Mekong, the Nile, the Rhine and the Tigris-Euphrates - competition for increasingly scarce fresh water resources is likely to increase. Agreements between the States sharing international watercourses will be negotiated, and disputes over shared water will be resolved, against the backdrop of the rules of international law governing the use of this precious resource.

The basic legal rules governing the use of shared freshwater for purposes other than navigation are reflected in the 1997 UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses. This book devotes a chapter to the 1997 Convention but also examines the factual and legal context in which the Convention should be understood, considers the more important rules of the Convention in some depth and discusses specific issues that could not be addressed in a framework instrument of that kind. The book reviews the major cases and controversies concerning international watercourses as a background against which to consider the basic substantive and procedural rights and obligations of States in the field.

The present third edition covers the implications of the 1997 Convention now being closed to entering into force, and the compatibility of the 1997 and 1992 Conventions. This edition also updates the entire book, adds new material to many of the chapters, and adds a number of new case studies to the chapter devoted to those.

Stephen C. McCaffrey, Distinguished Professor of Law, University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law,

Professor Stephen C. McCaffrey is Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California. He served two terms on the International Law Commission, chaired that body for one of its sessions, and was the Commission's special rapporteur on international watercourses. Professor McCaffrey is a member of the Implementation Committee of the UNECE Water Convention. He has served as counsel to States in cases before the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration and has published widely in the field.

Part I. Introduction
1. Human Use of Fresh Water and the Coming Era of Water Scarcity
2. The Concept of the International Watercourse System
Part II. Theoretical Bases of the Law of International Watercourses
3. Theoretical Bases of International Watercourse Law: Introductory Considerations
4. Theoretical Bases of International Watercourse Law: An Examination of the Four Principal Theories
5. The Contribution of the Law of Navigation
Part III. The Major Cases and Controversies
6. The Major Cases
7. Selected Case Studies
Part IV. Fundamental Rights and Obligations
8. Introduction: The 1997 United Nations Convention
A. Substantive Obligations
9. Equitable and Reasonable Utilization
10. The Obligation to Prevent Harm to Other Riparian States
11. The Obligation to Protect International Watercourses and Their Ecosystems
B. Procedural Obligations
12. Procedural Obligations
C. Groundwater
13. The Special Case of Groundwater
D. Dispute Avoidance and Settlement
14. Dispute Avoidance and Settlement: Selected Aspects